How would you describe a "meaningful life"?
As a Christian, I believe that we were created to love and serve God, and that without that, a life cannot be meaningful in the most important sense. But how does the Christian spiritual walk translate into a outwardly recognizable life of meaning?
Very early on, I remember being tempted to judge a person's life by how many people showed up at his funeral. Of course some are there because they love the deceased. Many come because they love members of the grieving family. Others come out of duty, some even out of habit, or curiosity. Wouldn't it be nice if it were as easy as counting the people who passed by your casket to say farewell?
And not a much better gauge is your obituary. Some go on and on with a picture, lists of hobbies and organizations, and people preceeding and surviving, how many degrees he had, his dog's name, and his favorite kind of cookie. Others are so stark: born here on this date of these parents, worked there 45 years, service Friday.
What about the size and magnificance of one's headstone? Being a serious graver, I have seen so many huge expensive ornately decorated monuments to the deceased resting below. Were they more important than the man's whose marker was a small rectangle of concrete with name and date roughly sketched in the cement, probably with a stick, with one of the letters backward no less?
Is it about money then? Of course not, no discussion needed. I feel silly for mentioning it.
Is it about having lots of descendents to carry on your genetics into the future? Children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren that will remember to mention once in a while what great chocolate chip cookies Grandma used to make, or what a meticulous housekeeper Great-grandma always was, or what incredible fish tales grandpa used to tell? Nope, that doesn't seem to be it either.
So I'm circling back to the funeral. Not a count of the people who are present at that final event of your earthly life, for all those reasons mentioned above, but of all the people who would be there if they could, if they were still alive, if they knew, if they could get there because you made a difference in their lives. In your life, you encounter people, hopefully you touch some in a positive, meaningful way. Perhaps you were my spouse, or my best friend. Maybe you were the best boss I ever worked for. A bank teller who always acted like you were glad I was in your line. A hairdresser who cared as much about my hair as I did. A teacher who stuck by my son during his roughest year in middle school. A vet that came in the middle of the night. A UPS man who walked down my long, windy snowed-in driveway to deliver a package he knew I was waiting for (they get in big trouble if they get those brown trucks stuck!). A Sunday School teacher who delighted in the material. An acquaintance from church who brought by a sack of grocieries the day after my mother died.
It doesn't really matter what you are doing WITH your life. The most important thing about your choices of career and non-career activities is that they put you in contact with people, preferably lots of people. People who will at some time you will have the opportunity to impact with love and kindness. What matters more than where you are, or how you make your living is how you are treating the people that God sprinkles along your path. The more people you interact with, and the more you are able to help them in any special way, the more impact your life has. Some of this impact happened long long ago, and is a faint memory that died with the person you impacted. Some impacts are larger, more vivid memories, held by more people perhaps, maybe still even talked about at gatherings. Maybe you did something so good it was covered by the newspaper, but sadly, most good deeds don't make the front page. Even better, your actions inspired others to take action and in that, your impact survives beyond the grave and the memories of others. You have started your own ripple in the lake, as they say.
And if, for some reason, God doesn't lead you into a position where you can teach and/or inspire others, what a comfort to know that God is keeping track of every kindness, every act of obedience. He said we should love our neighbors. He also said we should love our enemies. How do we do that? We go out of our way to find kind and loving things we can do for them. Yes, even our enemies.
